


𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 🁡 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟

by Adrenalineshots, sonshineandshowers, TheFibreWitch



Series: Domino 🁡 [42]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, Digital Art, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hallucinations, Harassment, Health Emergency, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Manic Episode, Mental Health Issues, Metafiction, Murder Mystery, Nightmares, Surrealism, Teenage Bright, Trauma, Unreliable Narrator, Video, a lot of really strange stuff that happens in altered states of consciousness, anxiousness, reader-driven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:46:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26505376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adrenalineshots/pseuds/Adrenalineshots, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonshineandshowers/pseuds/sonshineandshowers, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFibreWitch/pseuds/TheFibreWitch
Summary: Selecting 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟 from the bookshelf, Malcolm travels through his own mind.Read this story at:https://www.thedominostory.com/#the-very-hungry-caterpillarThis book is one part of the Domino series. If you have not yet read thePrefaceorIntroduction, please head there first.
Relationships: Gil Arroyo/Jackie Arroyo
Series: Domino 🁡 [42]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926451
Kudos: 1
Collections: Domino 🁡, Prodigal Son Big Bang 2020 - Saturday Posts





	𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨 🁡 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jameena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jameena/gifts), [MissScorp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/gifts), [ProcrastinatingSab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProcrastinatingSab/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Very Hungry Caterpillar](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/685399) by Eric Carle. 



> This book is one part of the Domino series. If you have not yet read the [Preface](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64577434#workskin) or [Introduction](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64588537#workskin), please head there first.
> 
> Betaed by the wonderful [Jameena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jameena/), [MissScorp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/), and [ProcrastinatingSab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProcrastinatingSab/).
> 
> Credit to the creators and their works that inspired and were referenced in this work:  
>  **— Inspiration:**[The Very Hungry Caterpillar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Very_Hungry_Caterpillar) \- Eric Carle  
>  **— Cover Song:**[Fine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpG1VjswM_4) \- Mike Shinoda

[](https://www.thedominostory.com/images/full/the-very-hungry-caterpillar.jpg) |   
---|---  
  
“I think I’d like mashed potatoes,” Malcolm says, sitting at the kitchen table. “And maybe some chicken nuggets? Or alfredo shells?” He rapid-fires some more options.

“Where’s my kid?” Gil jokes, looking in the fridge.

“Could we make baked ziti? Or lasagna? Or meatloaf? Or sausage and peppers? Maybe bolognese _and_ meatloaf!” Malcolm’s options come in one after another, barely any breath in between.

Gil’s eyes look back at him in concern, a glass of water and a block of cheese sitting on the counter in front of him. “Can you pick one? And we’ll make it together?” he says.

“Picking is not really my thing, and we can — tacos! Or hamburgers — can you pick?” Malcolm rattles along.

“How about I make you a grilled cheese, and you can eat that while we make bolognese for all of us?”

“Okay. Did you know that grilled cheese comes in many variants from — “

“Kid, did you take your meds?” Gil cuts him off while fishing a couple slices of bread out of the bag.

“Yes.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“You seem really up right now — that’s why I’m asking. Did you notice?”

“No.”

“Can you journal it, please? By the time you’re back, I’ll have your grilled cheese.”

“I have 274 pages left,” Malcolm recites as he walks to his room and continues even once Gil’s out of sight. “That’s a lot of stakeouts, Gil. Could we go on a stakeout?”

“Not tonight, kid,” Gil responds, his voice raised from the kitchen. “Jackie would miss us when she gets home.”

Malcolm finishes scribbling a note in his journal and hurries back to the kitchen. “My grilled cheese isn’t done yet, Gil,” he reports.

“Can you collect the tomatoes and ground beef?” Gil asks.

Malcolm quickly gathers the ingredients to the counter. “This grilled cheese isn’t ready as fast as you said it would be.”

“Can I have your wrist a minute?” Gil requests. He flips the grilled cheese in the pan and takes Malcolm’s wrist when he offers it.

“Why are you taking my pulse?” Malcolm questions.

“How do you feel?” Gil asks, looking at his eyes.

“I’m hungry! Can you believe that? And we could go running! Or maybe Jackie will want to go to the park. Could we go see the dogs?!”

“Hey, hey.” Gil shuts off the stove and pulls the pan to the side. The hand that had been holding Malcolm’s wrist shifts to the back of his neck. “Take a breath for a minute.”

Malcolm complies with an exaggerated breath and jumps back in. “Can I have the grilled cheese now?”

“It needs a minute to cool. I don’t want you to burn your mouth.”

“59, 58 — “

“Kid — “

“57, 56 — “

Gil ignores him and plates the grilled cheese, taking it to the kitchen table. Malcom follows behind, counting down the full clock before his hands grab for the sandwich. “Be careful,” Gil warns.

Malcolm takes a big bite into the sandwich, the cheese flooding his mouth. “’s g—d,” he says, his mouth full.

Gil shakes his head and returns to the kitchen. Starting a fresh pan, as soon as it’s warm enough, he puts the ground beef in and breaks it apart with a spatula.

“What can I do?” Malcolm asks, hovering around where Gil is working with the other half of grilled cheese hanging out of his mouth.

“Finish your sandwich, then you can start the water,” Gil says.

“We have to slice tomatoes too, right?”

“I’ll do that.”

“I can, too.”

“I know you _can_ — I’ll take care of it tonight.”

Malcolm scarfs the rest of the grilled cheese and immediately rummages in the cabinet for the pasta pot.

“Wash your hands first, then fill it,” Gil instructs.

“I know, Gil.” Malcolm rolls his eyes.

“Just checking.”

Malcolm keeps chattering while they work on dinner, his head racing with thoughts he tries to communicate to Gil all at the same time. They’re all bouncing around inside him, vying for the opportunity to escape first. 

Gil gets halved cherry tomatoes into the pan and the pasta into the water, then he rests his hands on Malcolm’s shoulders. “Do you want to go pick out what game we’ll play later? Maybe pick a puzzle you want to work on in the meantime?”

Malcolm runs before Gil finishes his sentence. Rummaging through the bottom of the TV stand, he doesn’t find what he’s looking for, so he stands on the ledge and reaches into the top, fishing for the box of peg brain teasers he knows is in there somewhere. The stand shifts, and the whole thing falls forward in a crash, pinning him between it and the living room floor. It doesn’t hurt — it just surprised him.

“Kid!” Gil shouts. “Kid?” His hands pick the TV stand up and move the TV off of Malcolm before pulling him out of the collection of games and DVDs strewn all over the floor.

“Maybe we can play all the games put together and make up the rules,” Malcolm says, standing up and walking to the kitchen.

“Malcolm, sit,” Gil demands, following behind him. Malcolm’s not sure what he means, but turns to see Gil’s hands on the back of a chair at the kitchen table. He complies, and Gil crouches beside him. “I know you feel invincible right now, but I need you to stay put a little bit. I’ll finish dinner, clean up the mess — you sit here.”

“Can I have the pegs?” Malcolm asks.

“The logic puzzles?”

“The brain teasers.”

“Sure.”

Gil walks across the room, then returns with a lid full of pegs and wooden blocks. “Have fun, kid.”

“Do you think I can finish them all before Jackie gets here? Or maybe 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 out of 6?” Malcolm counts the blocks while he talks.

“I’m sure you can. How much cheese are we going for tonight?”

“Mega cheese. Two, three, four kinds?”

“We’ve got two. I can do that.”

The door opens and Jackie walks in. “How are my two favorite guys?” she says.

Malcolm runs across the room to give her a hug before she gets the door closed. “We made bolognese, and the pasta is almost done, and I started a puzzle and bet Gil that I’d do ‘em all, but you’re here early, and — “

“Hi, honey,” Jackie says, and he pulls away from her, catching her shooting a look across the room to Gil. He sees Gil nod back at her in return. “Do you want to go for a walk before dinner? We can give Gil a few minutes to finish up.”

“We can do that after. I’m hungry, and — “

She catches his eyes and rubs the back of his neck. “Maybe we could have ice cream after instead and go for a walk now.”

“I’m hungry.”

“You just had a grilled cheese, kid,” Gil says, and Jackie looks across the room to him again.

“Push up challenge instead?” Jackie asks. “See if you can beat me?”

“I just wanna eat.” He pouts.

Jackie looks at Gil again. “Come on over, we can fix you a bowl,” Gil says.

Jackie takes the bowl from Gil and sits with Malcolm at the table, her chair pulled closer than normal. Malcolm shovels forkfuls of ziti rigati into his mouth until Jackie holds his elbow. “Let’s slow down,” she says. “I don’t want you to get sick.”

Malcolm sets the fork down and finishes chewing.

“Do you remember when we talked about feeling manic?” she says.

Malcolm nods.

“I think that’s what you’re experiencing right now. Do you feel it?”

He nods again. “Gil pointed it out.”

“Do you know how we know?”

“My thoughts are racing. And I’m talking fast.”

“And you’re a ball of energy. And you’re eating. You’re never hungry, kid.” She rubs the back of his neck. “These are good things, in moderation. You’ve gotta give the energy somewhere to go — that’s why I was trying to get you to exercise.”

“After dinner,” he repeats.

“Yes, I know. Go slow, and we’ll all go down to the park after.”

Malcolm keeps eating, but his stomach is still ravenous, and he can’t seem to put a lid on his thoughts. His eyes dart around while he fights to eat slowly.

“You’re alright,” Jackie coaxes. “Take a few laps down the hallway and back if you need a few minutes.”

He doesn’t know what he needs. Finishing eating, he walks the whole footprint of the house while he waits for Gil and Jackie to finish.

— ◌◯◌ —

Once the commotion of removing Bright from the house has died down, JT and Dani are left with a scene to finish investigating on their own. Having just reentered the house after donning extra protective equipment, for a few moments, JT aimlessly glances around the open living and dining room area, at a loss for where to begin.

“Mail’s still here on the dining room table,” Dani says, drawing his attention.

“Who has a typewriter these days?” JT says, looking at a side table. It’s the first thing that registers in his mind, but he quickly realizes it’s not the most useful statement.

“A well-off editor?”

“Sea Gate — how much you think a place like this runs?” Private beach just out the door, and a few minutes’ walk to Coney Island Beach, a little bit longer to Brighton. Quite the life, but nothing like what he and Tally want. Being walled off from the world seems… counterproductive.

“More than we’ll ever see in a lifetime.”

_Bright could get it_ runs through his head and almost rolls off his tongue, but he looks toward the mail in the middle of the table instead in an attempt to stay on task. Beside the pile marked with a tent for bagging is a bonsai. His eye follows the green around the room to a fern, a small palm, and several other decorative plants in a variety of different pots. “Green thumb,” he remarks.

“Book collector.”

“Also fits with the editor gig.”

Dani’s eyes land on the liquor cart that had been pushed away to get to Bright.

“I could use one too,” JT comments. “There’s nothing out of place here.” Except the gigantic void left by their friends.

“CSU’s gotta finish here and the kitchen — want to go to the office and den?”

“More books.” Kind of like Bright’s, but more spread out throughout different rooms. Or maybe the guy’s hiding more for all he knows.

“At least the place is clean,” Dani says as they walk toward the den.

Also like Bright’s. Spotless. No signs of forced entry, nothing left strewn about, even the site of the woman’s death peaceful in a relaxing bath. Outside of the art, books, and plants, there aren’t any personal touches, no photographs to indicate any connection to a world beyond the house. _Veronica Sogni, who are you?_ he thinks.

Scratching at the mask on his face, JT plods on after Dani, hoping they might find something that is remotely helpful.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Head back to the [Bookshelf](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497927/chapters/64588570#workskin) to pick another book. :)


End file.
